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NEW YOEK 

REPUBLICAN STATE CONVENTION. 

Held at Syracuse, September, 18 and 19, 1856. 

<h**« 

The Convention met at Corinthian Hall, and was called to order by Allen 
Mtjnroe, of Syracuse upon whose motion the Hon. Ward Hunt, of Oueida, was 
unanimously chosen as temporary Chairman. 

Mr. Hunt, upon taking the Chair, returned his thanks for the honor con- 
ferred upon him. His duties (he said) would be brief, and would soon be per- 
formed. This large and earnest looking assemblage of delegates represented the 
true feelings of the State in regard to the great question at issue. It was not the 
question of Whig or Demccratic principles that was now pending. Ttje great 
question was the simple ona^whether or not Slavery should be extended into Free 
Territory. (Applause). On the great question our State has spoken often, and 
spoken lustily. She declared against the admission of Missouri as a Slave State, 
and has since lifted up her voice against the spread of Slavery, on many import- 
ant occasions, down to the present time — at least to the month of January, when 
a spurious Democracy spoke on the subject. The State always speaks against 
Slavery, and speaks with a good voice. In 1836 New York voted for Van Baren, 
and he was elected. In 1840 she voted for Harrison, and he was elected. In 1844 
she voted for Polk, and he was elected. In 1848 she voted for Taylor, and he 
was elected. In 1852 she voted, and may the Lord pardon us for the mistake ! 
(laughter and applause,) for Franklin Pierce, and he was elected. In 1856 she 
will vote for Join C. Fremont, and he will be elected. (Shouts of applause and 
three cheers.) Whether the State has produced these result-* or not, she has in- 
dicated them. It has come to be a political proverb — " As goes New York*so 
goes the Union." A Convention at Cincinnati has put in nomination an indivi- 
dual who, like one of old, comes forth to meet us with sword and speai, threaten- 
ing to give our flesh to the fowls of the air and to the beasts of the fields ; but we 
have a young champion who will smite this Goliath of Democracy, and give his 
carcass to the beasts of the field to show these uncircumcised Philistines that 
there is a God in Israel. (Prolonged applause.) 

On motion, Isaac Dayton, of New Y^ork, and Noah Davis, Jr., of Orleans, 
were appointed temporary Secretaries. 

Father Waldo, Chaplain of the House of Representatives, was here intro- 
duced and opened the exercises with solemn prayer. 

On motion, the Secretary proceeded to call the roll of Delegates, and the fol- 
lowing gentlemen answered to their names : — 

dp;legates. 

Albany— Wesley Blaisdell, G. I. Van Alien, C. W. Goddard, W. J. D. Hil- 
ton, Theodore F. Humphrey, Hale Kingsley, R. Yan Yalkenburgh, rienry A. 
Brigham. 

Allegany — John W. Sherman, Martin Grover, Philip Church, Samuel M. 
RusselL 






^Vv° 



2 \ 

Broome — P. W. Hopkins, Edward H. Edwards. 

Chenango— James H. Smith, George W. Sumner, Lumau Ingersoll, W. G 
Welch. 

Cortland — Silas Baldwin. B. F. Tillinghast. 

Cattaraugus — G. Searl, J. Mersereau, N. M. Alleu, Rufus Crowley. 

Chautauque— Ira F. Gleason, J. Mann, James Parker, Rczelie Greene 

Chemung — Tracy Beadle, A. J. Wynkoop. 

Cayuga — Robert Hume, James D. Button, Geo. Bathbun, Jesse Segoine, E. 
W. Arms, C. M. Abbott. 

Clinton — 0. Hedding, J. D. Kingsland. 

Columbia — George H. Power, Jeremiah M. Storms, John T. Hogeboom, 
Harvey W. Gott. 

Dutchess— James Kent, William Watts, Leonard Maison, Edward lnnis, 
Geo. LoriUard, A. A. Palmer. 

Delaware — S. H. Rogers, Charles Knapp, T. E. Goodrich, Lindley Beach. 

Erie — F. J. Fithian, Wm. Wiikeson, Warren Granger, Thompson Hersee 
Myron Stiliwell, Wm. E. Mills, Philetus Allen, Wm. H. Pratt. 

Essex— J. Tarbell, J. Van Yoorhees. 

Franklin — Wm. A. King, S. M. Wead. 

Fulton and Hamilton— W. G. Wait, E. D. Towner. 

Genesee — Moses Taggart, T. C. Peters, Robt. Fisher, Jas. F. Boynton. 

Greene — Reuben Coffin, Joshua Fiero, Jr., Henry P. Alexander, Henry 
Greene. » 

Herkimer — James Feeter, Henry Tillinghast, George Birch, George Spinger. 

Jefferson— Daniel Wardwell, Wm. B. Farwell, Chas. E. Clark, John Had- 
dock, J. W. Ingalls, Joshua Main. 

Kings — S. Kaufman, Enoch Jacobs, Rollin Sanford, Chas. Kelsey, Jr., S. Al- 
pheus Smith, John A. Kammyer. 

Livingston — ]ra Godfrey, Henry Tilton, J. L. Endress, N. Seymour, Jr. 

Lewis — Ashley Davenport, Joseph A. Willard 

Madison — David Maine, David L. Fisk, John F. Fairchild, Luke Hitchcock. 

Monroe — Wm. Shephard, Benj. Birdsall, Jr.', Freeman Clark, Oliver H. Pal- 
mer, Henry R. Selden. Caleb. B. Corser. 

Montgomery — John I. Davis, John McClumpha, Peter G. Webster, Andrew 
Gilchrist. 

Niagara — G. D. Lamont, J. W. Labar, B. Yan Hoiti, Birge M. Fowler. 

New York — James H. Webb, Thoe. Nesbitt, James H. Welsh, Her win N. 
Jones, Owen W. Brennan, Dennis McLaughlin, John Edwards, Isaac P. 01m- 
stead, Adolphus Hexamer, Archibald Hall, Rob't Murray, Andrew Bleakley, 
John J. Siliocks, Jacob L. Dodge, Solomon P. Hull, Wm. L. Miller, Alexander 
Wolf, W T illiam Gray, Lewis H. Watts, James E. Coulter, Joseph Keene, An- 
drew Craft, Samuel Atkinson, S. L. Macomber, George Terwilliger, Isaac Sher- 
man, J- Wilson Green, Isaac Davton, Daniel D. Conover, J. C. Pinkney, Chas. 
Brenninghausen, Chas. G. Murch, John W. Edmonds. 

Oneida — Ward Hunt, James McQuade, Orson Carpenter, Lorenzo Rouse, Al- 
bert Bickford, Harman Pease, H D. Faulkner, Joseph Utley. 

Onondaga — Daniel T. Jones, Ogden Edwards, John F. Clark, Chester Moses, 
James Noxon, Peter Outwater, Jr., Geo. S. Loomis, Jos. Thomas. 

Ontario — E. G. Lapham, Edward Brunson, Thomas Hillhouse, Jedediah 
Dewey, Jr., 

Orang* — John B. Yan Buren, Harvey D Copeland, Nathaniel W. Howell, 
Charies G. Clark, Charles St. John, Merritt'H. Cash. 

Orleans — E. R. Reynolds, Noah Davis, Jr. 

Oswego — Daniel H. March, Andrew Hanner, Andrew S. Warner, Geo. W. 
Stilwell. 



3 

Otsego— Willard Trull. S. B. Wilson, J. J. Hendryx, Geo. S. Gorham, Rich- 
ard Franchot, E. Blakeley. 

Putnam — Joseph Strang. James Ryder. 

Queens — James Maurice, John A. King. 

Rennselaer — Gilbert-. B-.bertson. Jr., Martin I. Towneend, John G. McMur- 
ray, Voluey Richmond, Edmund Cole, Jonas Whiting. 

Richmond — Francis E. Shaw, Henry J. Seaman. 

Rockland — Edward Rye, Ferdinand L. Nichols. 

St. Lawrence— S. N. Sherman, E. W. Abbott, Silas H. Olark, Benjamin 
Squire, Bloomfield Usher, Daniel H. Davis. 

Saratoga — William Carey, George Powell. William Wilcox, John C.Hulbert. 

Schenectady — George P. Han ford, Jacob Carner. 

Schoharie — Ralph Manning, Chester Laselle, Norman Ottman, Reuben Mer- 
chant. 

Schuyler — G. G. Tuthill, George Clark. 

Seneca — N. Wood worth. Orin Southwick. 

Steuben — Daniel Gray, William B. McCay, Orange Seymour, W. W. Haight, 
Geo. S. Swift, Franklin LaRue. 

Suffolk — David G. Floyd. J. Sperry. John G. Floyd, David Piatt. 

Sullivan — Wynkoop Kiersted, Eli W. Fairchild. 

Tioga — H. Coryell, Charles A Morgan. 

Tompkins — G. D. Beal, D. Boardman, Alex. Bower, H. B. Lord. 

Ulster — John I yon, S. M. Boice, T. B. Gates, George T. Pierce. 

Warren — Jarrett Thomas, Stephen Pratt. 

Washington — D. A. Boies, J. H. McFarland, Joseph Potter, Charles 
Hughes. 

Wayne— A. B. Williams, Lewis H. Clark, E. T. Grant, Theophilus Wil- 
liams, 

Westchester — James T. Collyer, Daniel M. Hyatt, John C- Ferguson, Al- 
fred Pardoe. 

Wyoming — E. C. Holt, William Bristol, Jr. 

Yates — John T. Andrews. William S. Green. 

On motion, the claimants of the contested seats from the New York districts 
were all admitted to the Convention — with the proviso that the two claimants 
for each contested seat should count but one vole. 

On motion of Henry J. Seaman, of New York, a Committee consisting of 
two from each Judicial District was appointed to report permanent officers. 
The following are the names of the Committee: — 

1st Dist. — Joseph Keene, Adolphus Hexamer. 

2d " — Henry J. Seaman, John G. Floyd. 

3d " — H. A. Erigham, M. I. Townsend. 

4th " — Chas. Hu hes, Wm. Carey. 

5th " — Jas. Feeter, Ash lev Davenport. 

6th " — Willard Trull, Wm. G. Wild. 

7th *' — E. G. Lapham, Freeman Clark. 

8th " — Martin Grover, Warren Granger. 

The Convention then adjourned until 3 P. M. 

AFTERNOON SESSION. 

The Convention met pursuant to adjournment. Every Delegate was in his 
seat, and the residue of the space of the Hall was compactly filled with specta- 
tors. 

Mr. Seaman, from the Committee on Permanent Organization, reported the 
following list of Officers : — 



President. 
Hon. CHARLES E. CLARK, of Jefferson. 
Vice Presidents. 
Dist. 1st — Adol's 0. Haxamer, Sandf'd L. Macomber. 
2d — John Sherry, John C. Ferguson. 
3d — Volney Richmond, John T. Hogeboom. 
4th — S. N. Sherman, Peter G. Webster. 
5th — Jos. H. Willard, Henry Tillinghast. 
6th — Zrbulon E. Goodrich, James H. Smith. 
7th — Oliver H. Palmer, J. L. Andrews. 
8th — Moses Taggert, Wm. Bristol, Jr. 

Secretaries. 

James H. Welsh, James McQuade, 

J. Ryder, Richard Fanchot, 

Hale Ktngrley, Thomas Hillhouse, 

J. H. McFarland, G. D. Lamont. 

The President, on taking the chair, addressed the Convention as follows : 
.-;| Gentlemen of the Convention, I deem it the happiest day of my life to preside 
over a body of men such as I see here present. It is a errand, a sublime spec- 
tacle. I see before me old and cherished friends — personal friends and cherished 
political friends. I also see before me those with whom T have occasionally 
crossed political swords — all friends — all united in one grand and glorious pur- 
pose. [Applause.] Peace among the sons of freedom reigns everywhere. [Ap- 
plause.] The temple of Janus is closed. As a whig I have been willing to sink 
that once cherished name, and I have a right to do so. My ancestors were whigs ; 
my immediate ancestors sealed their devotion to that name, for some of them 
were in the war, aud some served an apprenticeship in the Jersey prison ship, if 
you look to claims upon that name, I can look as far back as auy who claim to 
be exclusively Americans. 

What is it that has produced this harmony of sentiment — this union of men 
upon one grand object? It is simply encroachments by the slave power. It is 
the determination of that power to reverse our common law, to devote that soil 
which has been dedicated to freedom to slavery. We have united for the pur- 
pose of resisting tuem ; and why should not whigs be willing, under existing 
circumstances, to abandon their honored name, their old organization, and unite 
with men equally virtuous and patriotic, and who have the same noble object iii 
view ? The whig party attempted to regulate the currency ; they attempted to 
do it with the United States Bank. It was like trying to swim with a mill-stone 
round their neck, and they sunk. The United States Bank is an obsolete idea. 
The mines of California have settled the question of a bank. [A.pplau*e.] 

The whigs attempted to protect domestic industry by a protective tariff ; but 
when we got south of Mason and Dixon's line the influence of that accursed in- 
stitution met us at every poiut. The whig party was tied by honest men, who 
seceded because some of us were not sufficiently devoted to temperance ; others 
were induced to secede because a little more impracticable than we. Again, 
when the foreigner came to the country, our name was opprobrious to him, and 
why? Why, because that country from which most of our foreigners come was 
a country that had been ruled over by whigs. The rule of the whigs over Ire- 
land was as bloody as that of the tories, and when an Irishman comes to this 
country he says, " I will not go with a party that fought the battle of the Boyne 
and overthrew my country. I will go to the democrats." It was a kind of whig 
fuge with the Irish emigrant, because the name was as odious to him as the name 
of the tory. 

Again, in our own ranks we found those who were opposed to our principles, 



and who met with us only to betray our cause — who came to our convention, 
reeking from the city of Washington, with the intention of breaking up our 
party — men who found pleasure in scandalizing those who do honor to the name 
of whips, who do honor to the State of New York, and who do honor to the 
Senate of the United States. Was it right, then, to maintain a party that the 
foreigner had felt hostile to ; that had lost its power for good — a party that 
abused its own best sons ? The democratic party, to be sure, will find plenty of 
apologies for abandoning their old name. They were instructed by one of their 
great leaders at Buffalo, a few years since, what were the true doctrines of the 
democracy. 

The lamented Silas Wright, almost with his dying breath, said, " Your doc- 
trines are the doctrines of Jefferson." You called him properly the Apostle of 
Liberty. [Applause.] You called him the Apostle of I) mocracy. He was the 
first Democrat — the leader amongst the democracy — and he was a true follower 
of Jefferson. Why do you oppose slavery ? What is. the reason? Because it 
impoverishes the country. Go to the South anfl you will find that a plantation 
of negroes must necessarily pursue one occupation. They must plant rice, or 
cotton, or sugar, or tobacco. If they deviated from this course, they would not 
befitted for anything else. They must plant, plant, plant, till the vegetable 
fibre is destroyed in the soil, and the land becomes unfit for further use. Go to 
the Ohio, and you will find that the slave soil on the one side sells for one half 
the price paid for the free soil on the other. 

Why was it that a tittle army of British troops was permitted to go through 
the country day after day until they reached Washington, and there burned the 
Capitol ? It was because those chivalrous sons of the South were afraid that 
their slaves would escape, and they had to hustle them into the woods and hide 
them behind the hills. Their object was to save their slaves, and they could not, 
therefore, save the Capitol of the Union. When we went to war with Mexico, 
the South joined in, because she expected to get more slave territory ; but in a 
war with England she would not be so ready, for such a war might lead to the 
acquisition of Canada, and that they would not like. 

The speaker here spoke of the Ostend manifesto, and said it was unequalled in 
villainy since. the first Cain. Buchanan and his colleagues at that Congress say 
it is our duty to offer to Spain a great deal more than Cuba is worth, in order to 
obtain it ; and if Spain won't sell, we are justified in acting the tyrant, as of old in 
the case of Naboth's vineyard. Why does Mr. Buchanan put himself in that 
position ? Because he knows it is necessary for him, if he desires to become 
President to do something on behalf of slavery. The South, the speaker said, 
had rejected Franklin Pierce and Douglas, because it knew that they Lad done 
all they could, and so it abaudoned them. 

He then went on to say that the outrages of the slave state men aroused the 
freemen #f the North, and they had resolved on opposing the further progress of 
slavery. We hear, said he, their voice already from Maine, and New England 
moves in a solid column. Shall New York be behind? No! never. Who 
cares for the little squad who, under the name of whig, have abandoned their 
principles. Who cares for them, without any candidate, sneaking after a candi- 
date who lives in a city erected by the stalwart arm of tkose he despises. — start- 
ing on the spring board of anti-masonry — [laughter] — opposed to all secret socie- 
ties, but now groping his way to the Presidency by the aid of a secret society 
and the dark lantern ? I have only to regret that instead of having Doneison 
for Yice President they did not nominate Capt. John Tyler. 

Gentlemen, said the speaker, in conclusion, on the banner of our forefathers 
was inscribed, "We hope in God," and it was from the initials of these names 
that our name was formed — W. H. I. G. We ore all powerful ; nominate who 
you please, if he be a good man the people will elect him by an overwhelming 
vote. [Applause.] 



On motion of Judge Edmonds • Resolved that a Committee be appointed of two 
from each Judicial District to report Resolutions and an Address. 

The Chair appointed the following as such Committee : 

Messrs. Edmonds and Breningeausen, of New-York ; Mr. Maueice, of 
Queens ; Mr. Maison, of Dutchess ; Mr. Greene, of Green ; Mr. Goddard, of 
Albany ; Mr. Hurlbert, of Saratoga ; Mr. Kingsland, of Clinton ; Mr. 
Hitchcock, of Madison ; Mr. Noxon, of Onondaga ; Mr. Baldwin, of Cortland ; 
Mr. Beach, of Delaware ; Mr. Rathbun, of Cayuga ; Mr. Southwick, of Seneca ; 
Mr. Davis, of Orleans ; Mr. Merserau, of Cattaraugus. • 

Mr. Dayton moved a Committee of two from each Judicial District to nomi- 
nate an Elector for the respective Districts ; and also to nominate two Electors 
at large. 

Mr. M. I. Townsend objected to the latter clause of the Resolution. The 
same Committee should not he entrusted with so large powers. 

After some conversation, the Resolution was divided, and the latter part was 
stricken out ; and thus amended, it was passed. 

Mr. Segoine moved that the Committees to appoint District Delegates name 
one from each district to constitute a Committee to nominate State Electors. 
[Unanimously agreed to.] 

On motion the Convention then resolved to proceed to ballot for a candidate 
for Governor. 

Mr. Dayton, of New-York, moved a reconsideration in order that the roll 
might be called, and each member rise and announce his choice. 

The motion to reconsider was adopted, and the secretary was about to call the 
roll, when 

Mr. Peters, of Genesee, claimed the floor, recommending the nomination of 
John A. King. 

Mr. Grover, of Alleghany, nominated James S. Wadsworth, of Genesee, and 
endorsed him in a spirited speech. 

Mr. Segoine, of Cayuga, said as gentlemen claimed the right to nominate 
candidates before their names were called, he would name Myron H. Clark. 

The Secretary then proceeded to call the roll. 

The first vote resulted as follows : — 
John A. King 91 James S. Wadsworth - - 72 

Myron H. Clark 22 Ira Harris - ... 22 

Simeon Draper - - - - 23 E. J. Leavenworth 12 

Charles H. Ruggles - - • - 5 H. R. Selden -•.-'.-■- 1 

D. W. 0. Littlejohn - . - 1 A. J. Bleecker - 2 

George W. Patterson - 2 William C. Bryant ... 1 

There being no choice, a second vote wss taken with the following result : — 
John A. King - - - 158 Myron H. Clark ... 10 

James S. Wadsworth - - 73 Ira Harris - 4 

George W. Patterson - - 1 

During the progress of this ballot, the names of Messrs Draper and Leaven- 
worth were withdrawn 

On the announcement of the result, 

Mr. Grover moved the unanimous nomination of Mr. King. [Three Cheers.] 
He said that although many western delegates desired Mr. Wadsworth's nomina- 
tion, they were not only satisfied with the nomination of Mr. King, [cheers.] but 
would give him as generous a vote and as large a majority as they had intended 
to give Mr. Wadsworth'. [Cheers.] 

The nomination was then made unanimous, with, three cheers for King and as 
many for Wadsworth. 



Mr. Maurice, in the name of Mr. King, and as a Delegate from Queens, 
thanked the Convention, and promised a satisfactory majority on Long Island for 
King and the good cause of Freedom and Fremont. [Cheers.] 

A proposition was then made to nominate James S. Wadsworth, by acclama- 
tion, for Lt. Governor ; but • 

Mr. Grover said Mr. W. could not accept the nomination, and declined it per- 
emptorily, adding that he would be found in the front ranks daring this and 
every other campaign which he might live to see, battling for Freedom. 

The Convention, on Mr. Peters' motion, then took a recess to 7 o'clock. 

Evening Session — 7 p. m. 

Mr. Seaman, of Richmond, moved the appointment of a Committee to wait 
upon Hon. John A. King, who is now in the city, and inform him of his nomi- 
nation. Agreed. 

The Chair named Messrs. Seaman and Grover as such Committee. 

The Committee selected by the Congressional Delegations, to nominate State 

Electors, were named as follows : 

1. James Maurice, 18. Andrew Gilchrist, 

2. J E. Cammamyre, 19. Willard Trull, 

3. James H. Welch. 20. Lorenzo Rouse, 

4. James Kelly, 21. Peter A. Hopkins, 

5. S. Coffin, ' 22. A. G. Purdy, 

6. Lewis H. Watts, 23. Wm. A. Farwell, 

7. Isaac Dayton, 24. Peter Outwater, Jr., 

8. Joseph Kean, . 25. James T. Butler, 

9. Joseph Strang, 26. E. G. Lapham, 

10. Merrit H. Cash, 27. D. Boardman, 

11. John Lyon, 28. George S. Swift, 

12. John T. Hogeboom, 29. Wm. Shepherd, 

13. M. I. Townsend, 30. Martin Grover, 

14. C. W. Godard, 31. Edw. R. Reynolds, 

15. Chas. Hughes, 32. F. J. Fythian, 

16. S. W. Weed, 33. John L. Smith, 

17. Bloomfield Usher. 

Mr. Pinckney, of New York, moved to proceed to nominate a candidate for 
Lieutenant Governor. 

Mr. Grover said he had nominated a candidate for Governor who was not 
accepted. He now desired to name a gentleman for Lieutenant Governor, whom 
he trusted the Convention would approve — Henry R. Selden, o Monroe. 
[Cheers.] 

It was suggested that he should move his nomination by acclamation. 
[Cheers.] He would, therefore, make a motion to that effect. [Cheers.] 

The Chair put the nomination, and it was unanimously adopted, with three 
times three cheers. 

A motion to proceed to the nomination of a Canal Commissioner was then 
adopted. 

The names of Mr. Baker, of Washington, Mr. Gardinier, of Montgomery, 
Mr. Sherrill, of Washington, and Mr. Chapin, of Albany were presented. 

The first ballot resulted as follows : — 

Ogden N. Chapin - - - 64 Isaac Baker .... 38 
Charles H. Sherrill - - - 61 Mr. Lewis - - - 1 

Cornelius Gardinier 72 

A motion was then adopted, that if a choice should not be effected on the next 
vote, that on the third ballot the vote be confined to the two highest candidates. 



8 

The Chairman of the committee appointed to wait on Mr. King and apprise 
him of the nomination, reported that Mr. King accepted the nomination. 
Calls being made. Mr. King rose and addressed the convention as follows : 

Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Convention : I hardly know in what lan- 
guage to express the sentiments of my heart. ? stand before yon as your candi- 
date for Governor of the State of New York — th :.te of the Union — lull 
of intelligence, fall of the love of liberty. I address a convention composed of 
good men of all parties, honorable men, men who came here but with one si 
purpose nomination which was made at Philadelphia oi 
C. Fremont. [Applause.] Ton came here to speak as the representati- 
ve free men of the Stale, and upon a question on which the Xew York records 
have always been right. I feel the responsibility placed upon me. Yen might 
have taken a younger and an abler man, but not a truer man to my native S 
to all its great in :untiy, to the constitution, the great corner stone 
of freedom. 

I come from a race who had something to do with the framing insti- 

tution. The same blood runs in my veins that ran in the veins of him whose sig- 
nature was placed to that instrument. As the son of that man I should be re- 
creant to my duty, if upon this occasion and in such a presence as this, I should 

or doubt that you have done me justice in presenting me 
candidate for the office of Governor — not that I am more worthy than other men,. 
::ninate me. I came here without any expectations of the 
kind. I had no frier. k lor me : but you spoke for me — you took me by 

the hand 

I accept iJ ced in my keeping ; and with your strong" will 

with your d 2 wer to 

make good the nomination with which you have honored me. It was my good for- 
to have had a seat in the Convention of Philadelphia, which placed before 
you the man who is to be your standard-bearer. I had another choice in my 
heart. There was another man nearer to me. but the cause was greater than the 
man, and so we took the man the people said was the choice — a self-made man, 
an edn an of enterprise, a man of action, the very type and charac- 

ter of the American people. [Applause.] He is the man, with his antecedents 
all good, all honorable, all for freedom. He was selected to be the standard-bearer 
of the freemen now mustering through the United States, to carry the banner of 
freedom to victory. He is the man for the occasion, the man the country will 
delight to honor, and if this great and powerful E v.ty, it will stand 

where it ever stood, on the side of freedom. Now that yon have placed me as 
your standard-bearer in this State, 1 want yenr strong arm; arts, all 

the aid you can give me. to strengthen me at home, that we may strengthen Fre- 
mont elsewhere. Give me that support and I will respond to it. I have no per- 
sonal motive ; nothing for myself. I simply desire with a hearty good w 
make the support which you will give me advance the great cause in which we 
are engaged. It dees not become me 7 more. My heart is fall. My 

language is not et y sentiments, for I feel as a man should feel after the 

way in which you have ! cnored me. Let me then wish you God speed, health, 
prosperity, and a good, bold, noble stroke for freedom. 

Martin Grower being called for, made a glowing speech. He said all the 
friends of "\V adsworth desired, was accomplished in the nomination of Mr. King, 
and the defeat of the opposing candidates. 

Mr. Bkldkn was introduced to the Convention amidst tremendous applause. 
He said he had remained perhaps too long for a friend of freedom in the racks of 
the democratic party. He was now heart and soul with the party of freedom. 



. 9 

He believed that all the issues were now narrowed down to the non-extension of 
slavery. He thanked the Convention for the nomination, and hoped they would 
never regret it. 

Mr. Seaman, of Queens County, announced that a committee from the North 
Americans were present, and moved that they be heard. 

Mr. 11. 1. Townsend moved the Convention proceed to ballot for Canal Com- 
missioner. 

Martin Grover hoped the Convention would treat the North Americans 
courteously. This was a great democratic party, as he understood it, and they, 
like death and the grave, took in every person that came along. Foreigners 
would not be scared at the shadow of Know-Nothingism if it was going to sup- 
port their candidate. 

Mr. Townsend objected to the North Americans being received as such. This 
organization, it could not be denied, if their views were carried out, would de- 
prive thousands of foreigners of their rights. [Cries of " Question," question."] 
He lived in a ward where five hundred 'foreigners voted. He would not suffer 
their rights to be attacked. The same thing was brought intq the Philadelphia 
Convention. No outside organization should be suffered to enter the convention. 

Mr. Kauffman, of New York, said, as a German citizen he could not remain 
silent on this subject. He fully endorsed the remarks just delivered, but was in 
favor of free speech. He had no objection to hear what the Know-Nothings had 
to say, but they must come and tell us that they have disbanded as a party, and 
given ' up all separate conventions. As Know-Nothings, who would deprive 
Germans of their rights for twenty-one years, the Republicans could not have 
associated with them. Fifty thousand Germans in New York would support 
Fremont, and they had their rights. As a lover of freedom of speech, however, 
he would hear what the North Americans had to say. 

A motion to hear the committee was carried, when 

Ambrose Stevens, from the North American Cnvention, said that the North 
Americans came to join with this Convention in the cause of freedom. They 
had resolved to make no nomination, but to look to this Convention for a ticket 
they could support. He then read, the resolutions of the North American Con- 
vention. 

Mr. Kauffman moved the resolutions be adopted, and the delegation invited 
to seats in this Convention. The motion was adopted. 

On motion, the Secretary called the roll to choose a Canal Commissioner. 

The name of J. B. Parker was withdrawn. The vote was as follows : 

Whole number, - 213, necessary to a choice, - - 107 

Sherrill, .... 96 1 Chapin. ...... 35 

Gardner, 82 | 

The Convention then proceeded to vote on the two highest candidates, with the 
following result : 

Sherrill, 125 | Gardner, 83 

Mr, Sherrill was declared unanimously nominated. 

The Convention then adjourned till next morning. 



10 



Bbcohd Day — Sept. 19. — The Convention re-assembled at 8 o'clock. 

Judge Edmoxds, from the Committee on Eesolutions and Address, reported 
that the Committee had confined their action to the single question which 
had banded them together, from the materials of the other parties which had ex- 
isted in the state. 

The Committee had received a respectful communication from a G-erman So* 
ciety, arming their consideration of the topics of Immigration. Education, and 
the Homestead bill. They had also been requested to consider the temperance 
question, and the gratitude that was due to G-ov. Clark, the first representative 
of Eepublicanism in the executive chair. 

But the Committee had been entirely unanimous in confining their attention 
to the single question of Slavery, which now absorbed the attention of the coun- 
try to the exclusion of all others. And it was for the Convention to say how 
far their action should now be sustained. 

He then read the following 



ADDEESS AID RESOLUTIONS 



ADDEESS OF THE REPUBLICAN COXVEXTIOX OF NEW YORK TO THE ELECTORS OF 

THE STATE. 

The Republican Convention of Xew York, in presenting to the consideration 
of the people a new and distinct political organization, hitherto unknown among 
them, deem it proper to proclaim the motives which have impelled to this 
course. 

The question now most prominent before the American people i3 that growing 
out of the existence of slavery, and it is one which, in its magnitude and interest, 
swallows up all others. 

It is not owing to us that it is now presented to the people. It has been 
thrust upon us, against our most earnest desires, by the pro-slavery interest and 
those who are enlisted in its cause, or are desirous of profiting by its aid. 

It must be met by us. "We have no other escape from it but submission — 
no refuge from its supreme domination but resistance. We are therefore banded 
together to meet the question as frankly and as boldly as it is presented to us, 
and are resolved to encounter its extremest hostility until we have secured the 
permanent establishment of the principles of freed mi involved in it. 

The slavery interest from the foundation of oar government has been aggres- 
sive. And so long as it is surrounded by freedom as larare and as wide-spread as 
that which pervades our land, it must +>e aggressive. Agression is a necessity 
of its existence. It must advance or die. If it retreats or pauses in its onward 
course, its fate is sealed and it must perish. 

The past history of our government is, therefore, unhappily a history of the 
triumphant and successful progress of slavery among us. 



11 

Planted in our soil by the people, whose tyrannic sway our fathers cast off in 
the revolution, it was at an early day a source of anxiety to those who proclaimed 
to the world, the immortal truth, that all men are endowed by nature with an in- 
alienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and who pledged for 
its maintenance life, fortune aud sacred honor. 

The sages who framed our national constitution were anxious to get rid of an 
evil which was in sueh glaring conflict with the basis upon which our indepen- 
dence had been achieved, but embarrassed by the difficulties which even then sur- 
rounded the question, they yielded to a compromise, the very foundation of which 
was, the promise then held out to all the people that slavery should not extend 
beyond the limits which then contained it. 

Seventy years have since rolled on, and behold how wretchedly that promise 
has been falsified ! Behold how sadly the expectation which then dwelt in every 
heart which beat for freedom, has been disappointed! 

The number of human beings held in enduring bondage by the free people of 
America, has swelled up from about seven hundred thousand to nearly three mil- 
lions aud a half; the pecuniary interest involved in the practice has augmented 
by millions of dollars ; the soil in which slavery lives has been tripled even in 
America, and the embarrassments and difficulties attending the eradication of the 
evil have been increased a thousand fold. 

Seven of the original states proceeded, in due process of time, to wipe the stain 
of bondage from their garments, and wheeled into the column of freedom, un- 
tainted by any farther contact with the pollution of slavery. But six of those 
states continued to wallow in the mire of their sad inheritance, so that at the end 
of three score years and ten, the number whom they enslave is larger by 1,000,- 
000 than it was in the beginning. And one of them who once sent forth the 
children of her soii to lead our armies and to guide our councils in our struggle 
for freedom, now sends them forth by hundreds as slaves to be bought and sold 
like cattle in the market ; thus converting the nursery of freedom's heroes and 
sages into the breeding sty of slaves, and making the land whence once arose the 
inspiring cry of " Give me liberty, or give me death," now resound with the un- 
ceasing wail of bondage. 

Instead of six states having about 600,000 slaves, we have now fifteen, with 
about 3,000,000. 

Instead of seven states who have abolished slavery, we have had added to the 
Union nine states with 1,579.965 slaves. 

And instead of six small states with a territory of 212,685 square miles, to 
which, by the promise of 1787, slavery ought now t% be confined, we have added 
thereto by negotiation with France and Spain, by conquest from Mexico, by 
spoil and treaty with Texas, by cession from other states, and by purchase from 
the Indians, nine states, with a territory of 649,833 square miles. 

Such have been the aggressions of slavery among us in point of territory. But 
its hopes or its purposes end not here. Already is Central America, whose Con- 
stitutions prohibit slavery, shrinking beneath the poisonous breath of pro-slavery 
immigration ; already has Cuba been regarded with longing eyes by the slavery 
propagandists; and ev^n now the territory of Kansas is resounding to the mailed 
tread of her pro-slavery invaders. 

Where and when is this advancing tide to cease? And what power is there 
on earth, except that will of the whole people which we now invoke, that can bid 
its swelling waters to be still ? 

But it is not in point territory alone that its aggressions are apparent. 

In its grasp at political power it has been equally untiring and tenacious, and 
equally successful. 

Out of sixty-eight years of presidential terms, since the organization of out- 
go vern merit, forty have been filled from the slaveholding states, twenty have been 



12 

filled by avowed supporters of the slaveholding interest, and eight only have been 
accorded to an exemption from its contamination. 

Thus for sixty out of sixty-eight years, have the control of the army and navy, 
the question ot peace and war, the direction of treaties, the appointment of every 
judicial and executive officer, and the whole power and influence of the govern- 
ment been subjected to the slaveholding interest. 

And to make that subserviency more complete and more effective, it has en- 
grafted into the administration of the government the abominable doctrine, that 
offices of honor and trust, created only for the general welfare may be regarded 
as spoils, belonging to the victor, to be bestowed riot as rewards of merit or ac- 
cording to fitness, but as a remuneration for party services ; as if the incumbent 
could be less tainted by the emoluments of office than by a direct pecuniary 
bribe, as if the power of self government could be wielded only through the instru- 
mentality of corruption, and as if it was determined to proclaim to every aspirant 
for honor and distinction, that the only pathway to success was through the favor 
of the slave-holding interest. 

Id legislation also its aggressions have been manifested. 

The United States Constitution provides that fugitives from justice and from 
service shall be delivered up by toe state into which they may have fled — the 
former on the demand of the executive authority of the state 1'rom which they 
may have fled, and the latter on the claim of the party to whom the service is 
due. Though it could hardly be imagined that any difference could be made in 
the exercise of powers so similar to each other, yet from the earliest action of Con- 
gress a difference was demanded by and accorded to the slaveholding interest, 
and while the surrender of tl»e fugitive from justice was left entirely with the 
state authorities, that of fugitives from service was conferred on the officers of 
the general government. Some of the states desired to regulate the exercise of 
the power within their own borders and on their own citizens, and passed laws 
for that purpose, yet the Supreme Court of the United States, whose members 
owe their appointment to the Executive, and whose presiding judge has for more 
than fifty-five years, been taken from a slaveholding state, declared such laws and 
all state interference unconstitutional. And the second fugitive slave law carried 
out the principle by prohibiting all state interference. It went farther and con- 
ceded still more to the pro-slavery interest, for it virtually denied to our citizens 
any appeal to our own courts in defence of their freedom, and compelled them to 
resort to the tribunals of the state to which transported, thus affording us a prac- 
tical illustration of the evil complained of in 1776 — that of transporting us 
beyond seas to be tried for nretended offences ; and it crowned its concessions to 
that interest by allowing to the judicial officers of the United States, for sending 
a man into slavery, twice the compensation allowed for setting him free. 

By legislation also the area of slavery has been enlarged. Confined in the first 
instance to the bounds of the original thirteen states, it was by the Missouri 
Compromise extended far beyond those limits, and now, by the repeal of that 
Compromise, the whole territory of the nation is claimed to be opened to it. 

So, too, it was by legislation that Texas was admitted to the Union as a slave- 
holding state, and now, with her 60,000 slaves, adds her voice to the cry which 
ascends to Heaven from the land which once proclaimed to man his inalienable 
right to be free. , 

Not content, however, with the augmentation of the number of slaves, the 
increase of slave territory, the possession of political power, and the interposition 
of the legislative authority, the slaveholding interest has of late years resorted to 
violence for the extension of its domain. 

Early in the history of our government the idea was started in a slaveholding 
state that if the General Government should be deemed to have exceededits con- 
stitutional power, it was competent for an individual state to refuse obedience to 



IS 

its laws. Supported by a President from the same state, that doctrine became 
an acknowledged principle of the dominant political party of the Union. And 
only a few years have elapsed since we beheld the practical operation of the doc- 
trine in the nullification and secession movements of another slaveholding state. 

And now, day by day, we behold how sternly is denied to even the freemen of 
the South to question whether " Slavery is a great good." 

Our own citizecs visiting there are captured and mobbed or driven from the 
territory, if they venture even to hint a doubt of its propriety. 

The minister of the gospel who ventures to preach God's freedom there is 
silenced. 

The schoolmaster who dare3 instruct the blinded ignorance there surrounding 
him, and the bookseller who distributes a word for freedom are forcibly expelled. 

The citizen who associates in convention with those who proclaim the great 
principles of freedom which we profess, is driven from his family and his home. 

The editor who, in the exercise of the freedom of the press, discusses the matter 
ever so temperately, is beaten with many stripes. 

Free men for assisting to break the fetters of the slave are consigned for long 
years to the gloom and the suffering of the penitentiary. 

In violation of the constitution, which declares that for any speech or debate 
in either House of Congress, the Senators and Representatives shall not be ques- 
tioned in any other place, a senator is cruelly beaten for words spoken in debate. 

And even" in the land of Sumpter and of Marion the perpetrator of the cow- 
ardly outrage is feasted and lauded, and led in triumphal procession by the whole 
people. • 

And to crown all, the citizens of the free states for exercising the right of 
removing to territory common to all, are hunted like beasts of prey from their 
houses ; driven to fly by the fire of their own dwellings, and are imprisoned and 
shot to death with a ruthless disregard to humanity and justice. 

These repeated aggressious have been borne by the free people of our country 
for nearly three qrarters of a century, in the confident hope — once strong but now 
weak — that the time would come when the cause of these evils would cease in the 
land ; that our fellow citizens of the South would pause in their invasion al.ke of 
our feelings and our rights : and that peace and harmony would abide with us> all. 
But how vain and illusory is the hope ! 

Day by day there comes up to us from the far distant borders of our land the 
sound of civil war. engendered in behalf of slavery. 

Even in the halls of Congress is uttered the threat of our subjugation by this 
interest of eternal aggression. 

An administration inaugurated on the promise of repose, takes the lead even in 
agitation. 

Others are grasping for power by vieing with each other which can descend 
the deepest into the degradation of fostering and upholding the pro-slavery inter- 
est, with all its accumulated evils both to the master and the slave. 

And over and over a^ain is the dissolution of the Union threatened by those 
* who have done so much to dissolve the bonds of harmony and fraternal regard 
among us, without which union is endangered. 

Against all these accumulated ills — against these oft-repeated aggressions — 
against these evils ot the present and the prospect of more in the future, what is 
our protection but, to meet fairly and manfully the question now thrust upon us ? 

We repeat, it has not been now presented at our instigation. It has not been 
by our procurement thac it is now agitating the hearts of our people to their 
deepest depths. It is forced upon us by circumstances beyond our control. 
Bm being upon U3, we have no alternative but to submit, once and forever, to 
the triumphant domination of the slaveholding interest, or, by resisting, end it. 



14 

No man in whose heart beats one throb of the love of that freedom which de- 
scends to us as our richest inheritance, can for a moment hesitate which to 
choose. Our choice is made. We go for freedom, and we invite all the people 
to associate with us. 

But we are not and cannot be unmindful that They with whom we are thus 
called upon to contend are pur brothers still, and members with us, of the same 
great family of freemen. 

Cursed by an infliction, which has been fastened upon them by the times which 
have passed — heirs to an inheritance of evil which, unassisted, they cannot shake 
off, and whose bondage weighs even more heavily upon the master than upon 
the bondman, because it enslaves at once the mind and the heart, they are the 
objects of our compassion lather than of our resentment. For them as well as" 
for ourselves — for their posterity as well as ours, will we struggle ; and when 
the hour of victory shall come, as most assuredly it will, we will rejoice in it the 
more because of the emancipation it will bring to them — an emancipation which 
will at length enable them to stand side by side with us, an example of such 
freedom among men as the world has never known. 

Such will be the result which must flow from the promise of the Constitutional 
Convention of 1*787 — such the result of the expectations of the people since that 
day, and such the result against which the aggressions of slavery are, and from 
that day have been waging its inveterate war. And while we aim not to inter- 
fere with the domestic relations of any state, we demand that the principles and 
the promises of the Revolution shall be carried out, so that slavery with its ine- 
vitable and its enduring hostility to freedom, may be confined within its legiti- 
mate limits, wherein, if it die not, like the scorpion, by the poison of its own 
sting, it will, at least, cease its invasion of freedom's domain and its eternal war- 
fare on that Union on which depends so much the welfare and happiness of our 
people, and the cause of freedom throughout the world. 

RESOLUTION. 

The people of the State of New York, represented in this Republican Con- 
vention, avowing their steadfast determination to uphold the Union of the States, 
and preserve the rights of the States, and the immunities and privileges guaran- 
teed by the federal constitution to every individual, do hereby declare and 

Resolve, That they affirm and accept the platform of principles adopted by 
the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, in June, 1856, and will 
wage unceasing and inveterate war against the farther extension of human 
slavery ; and will give their cheerful and hearty support to the candidates pre- 
sented by that Convention to the American people. 

On motion of Mr. Cash, of Orange, the Address and Resolution were unani- 
mously adopted, and with three cheers. 

On motion of Mr. Kent, of Dutchess, the thanks of the Convention were 
voted to the Committee for their services. 

The Convention then proceeded to vote for State Prison Inspector, with the 
following result : 

Wesley Bailey, of Oneida, 118 

Thomas Kirkpatrick, of Albany, 80 

Henry B. Miller, of Erie. • 17 

Scattering, .- -- - - 5 

Whole number of votes cast, 229 ; necessary to a choice, 115. 
. The nomination of Mr. Bailey was made unanimous. 



15 



Mr. Pinckney, of New York, moved for the appointment by the chair of a 
State Executive Committee, to consist of two members from each judicial dis- 
trict. 

Mr. Hughes, of Washington, moved to amend by re-appointing the present 
State Committee, with the addition of three members from the fourth aud fifth 
Judicial District, to be appointed by the President of the Convention. He 
stated that district was now unrepresented. Judge Welch, of New York, moved 
that the State Committee, so far as referring to that city, be designated as the 
New York City Delegation. 

Voted down by a large majority. * 4 

Mr. Hughes's amendment was then carried, and the resolution as amended 
adopted. 

The convention then proceeded to vote for a candicMe for the office of CMhfc 
of the Court of Appeals, with the following result : 5» 

Whole number of votes, .---»-- 217 

Necessary to a choice, - -.109 

Russei F. Hicks, of Livingston, 120 

Henry H. Yandyke, of Albany, 70 

Charles F. Buggies, 14 

W. T. Beach/ - ... 10 

Leonard F. Mason, of Dutchess County, - 3 

On motion, the nomination of Mr. Hicks was declared unanimous. 
The following is a correct Jfc of the Presidential Electors nominated/* 
At Large — James j\ WfflRvorth, of Livingston, Moses H. Grinue*ll, of New 
York. r 

List. Dist. 

I. Minthorne Tompkins, XVII. Smith Stillwell, 

II. Amos P. Stanton, XVIII. Daniel Cady, 

III. James Kennedy, XIX. Robert Hugston, 

IV. Hermann Raster, XX. James S. Lynch, 
V. Daniel L. Pettie, XXI. William S. Savre, 

VI. John Belcher, XXII. Daniel H. Marsh, 

VII. *Daniel Conover, XX I II. Ashley Davenport, 

VIII. Thomas Carnly, XXIV. Leroy Morgan, 

• UK- Jared V. Peck, XXV. Eleazer Burnham, 

K: John P: Jones, XXVI. M. H. Lawrence, 

3tl. Erastus Cooke, XXVII. Josiah B. Williams, 

XII. Robert A. Barnard, XXVIII. Isaac L- Endress, 

XIII. John G. McMurray, XXIX. Freeman Clark, 

XIV. H. H. Van Dyck, XXX. W. S. Ballou, 
XV. John C, Hurlbut, XXXI. William King, 

XVI. Jacob D. Rutland, XXXII. Rufus Wheeler, 

XXXIII— Delos E. Sill. 

* In nlace of George Law, whose name was withdrawn by Mr. Ambrose Stevens. 

The nominations were ratified amidst loud applause. 

The chair th^n announced the portion of the State Committee from the Fourth 
and Fifth Judicial Districts, as follows : 

Fourth Di>trict — Charles Hughes, of Washington ; William A. Wheeler, of 
Franklin ; William Carey, of Saratoga. 

Fifth District — Henry L. Burchard, of Oneida. 

A vote of thanks was then passed to the officers of the Convention, and the 
members of the press. 



16 



The President made a breef speech, returning his thanks for the honor con- 
ferred upon him. He then spoke in praise of the nominees of the Convention 
and exhorting all to go home and attend. to the work before them. 

Three cheers for the President's address were given. 

The address and resolution were Ordered to be printed in pamphlet form. 

Three cheers were then given for King, and three more for Fremont and Day- 
ton, when the Convention adjourned sine die. 

Charles E. Clark, President. 



James H. Welsh, 
Hall Kingsley, 
James McQaade,. 
Thomas Hillhotfsf * 



Secretaries. 
J. Ryder, 
J. H. McFarland, 
Richard Fanchot, 
G. D. Lamont. 



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